Forget Mundine, this is the real fight

Deontay Wilder will aim to rekindle America's love affair with heavyweight boxing on Saturday when he faces Britain's Tyson Fury in a high-stakes showdown of undefeated fighters.

As the reigning World Boxing Council champion, Wilder is the latest custodian of a belt which has been worn by some of theheavyweight division's most iconic names stretching back over more than 50 years.

Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Mike Tyson head the who's who of Wilder's predecessors, evoking an era when heavyweight boxing was an integral part of the US sporting landscape.

And it all goes down Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas. The night kicks off at around 1pm (AEDT) with the undefeated pair expected to walk to the ring around 3pm.

Wilder has waited a decade for the chance to pick on somebody his own size.

Wilder (40-0, 39 KOs) is the most accomplished American heavyweight boxer of his era, a superb athlete with vicious punching power and a reckless streak. The Olympic medallist has stopped every man who ever stepped in the professional ring with him, following up his lone decision victory with a knockout in the first round of the rematch.

Yet even the 32-year-old Wilder agrees he had never fought anyone approaching his own stature - not in physical size, but in boxing achievement - until quite recently. He has built his career with sometimes confounding deliberateness, taking histime to learn the sport he only picked up as a 20-year-old after moving on from football and basketball in his native Alabama. "Everybody has their appointed time," Wilder said this week. "My time is now."

TYSON FURY'S RADICAL REDEMPTION PATH

Tyson Fury flirted on the landing of death's door after taking over the world by age 27.

But perhaps the most incredible thing about the British giant is his comeback from rock bottom.

The friends and co-workers who know every detail of Fury's remarkable rise and incredible fall sometimes marvel at his recovery from depression, drug abuse, heavy drinking and spectacular weight gain during a fraught, decadent two-year spiral.

Not many fighters have reached the pinnacle of their sport as sublimely as Fury did when he defeated the seemingly unbeatable Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015.

And now he plans to reclaim a championship and further his undefeated record to biblical heights.

"Wilder needs me, make no mistake," Fury said. "He's been champion since 2015, he's made seven defences, but he's still unknown. So what do they need to do? Bringin a big-mouthed Brit, the best fighter in the world, and let him get his (tail) kicked. He'll become known. He'll get a good hiding from Tyson Fury."